Today was going to be a day of rest and relaxation as in a couple of days from now we’re going to be climbing up to altitudes of over 4000m above sea level.
Well, thats how the day started but when we saw bikes for hire at our hostel how could we resist. Elena wanted to give cycling another go since it’s been a few years since crashing a friends bike in Germany. She’ll be the first one to tell you she’s the worlds worst cyclist. So here we are at 2440m above sea level and with the air thinner than what we’re used to we’re off to go sightseeing. First we have a little practice, then its into the centre of town where we see two others from our hostel Sabrina and Denise on bikes too. they explain that there off to Pukara de Quitor a 3km cycle to the northwest of town. We decide to follow along as its no too far for Elena who’s still about as comfortable as a dodgy businessman during a tax audit on her bike.
Cycling slowly and with our friends leaving us to our own pace we finally managed to make it across town, paid the entrance fee and locked the bikes in the shelter provided.
There are two paths you can take to various areas within Pukara de Quitor, the first was the steepest and proved testing on Elena who keeping her bike seat low to be able to put both feet on the ground in an emergency gave her legs a real workout just getting to Pukara de Quitor.
The old ruins stand on the side of the steep hill provided a strong resistance to the Spanish and held them off for many years, in the end both sides had a treaty signed and their fate was sealed into Spanish history.
Elena struggled with the first path, so I was on my own for the second. To be honest the second and longer path was an easier climb and I really wished the Elena had decided to come, but with the fear of altitude sickness looming over our heads we didn’t want to push our luck.
The views are incredible and reaching the top I was graced with the best view over San Pedro de Atacama and the Andes beyond.
If you’re here and want a lazy day this is it. Grab a bike and explore, you never know where you might end up, but if your’e looking for a simple climb close to town this is it.
Hi Wayne! My name is Luis, we met at Turipite Hostel the day you published this post. Me and my wife Anni also went to Pukará de Quitor by bike the morning after that night, and it was a really wonderful experience. As we left the Pukará that morning we took the road to north towards the Catarpe Valley and the Quebrada del Diablo, a stunning ravine 8km far from San Pedro. I wrote a piece on Medium about that day and I took the liberty of linking your blog, I hope you don’t mind. Here is the link https://medium.com/@luiscestaro/de-bicicleta-%C3%A0-quebrada-del-diablo-9f45018e1653#.el9nae1sj It’s in portuguese, but maybe the pictures are worth seeing. It’s great to see you and Elena are having such a great time in South America, keep on going! If you come to Sao Paulo someday just say hello. Regards!
Hi Luis and Anni, Great to hear from you. Pukará de Quitor is a great site to get your bearings over the town of San Pedro. Thanks for linking the site and likewise if you’re ever in Australia and need accommodation we’d be honoured to have you stay with us. I loved reading your blog and seeing all the pictures that you’ve taken, it’s an awesome read… well done! All the best in your travels – Wayne & Elena 🙂